RLTW894

DO NOT get SLING TV. They don't have local channels in Minneapolis market. You will not get Fox and won't be able to watch the World Series. I grew up a Brewers fan and adopted the Twins as my 2nd team. I've been a Twins season ticket holder going on 4 years now, and never had Brewers season tickets. I am thrilled to see the Crew do well and will definitely be cheering them on as an example of what a well run small market (the smallest) team can do. That said, I am also cheering for the Phillies because of Kepler, Duran and Bader. Honestly, those are the only 3 players I care about on the Phils. I'd love to see a Brewers/Mariners World Series. However, with the Crew limping into the playoffs, it's really anybody's Series to win this year, which will make it a lot of fun to watch. I'm still dreaming about a Twins/Brewers series. Emphasis on dreaming...

I agree with Brandon Hyde. He is a good blend of data and old school fundamentals while focusing on developing young players. He'd be a perfect fit. The last series against Baltimore in the 2024 season, the seed was already planted. He just smiled at me when I told him we'd love him here in Minnesota, but I didn't think it would become a reality as I didn't see Baltimore firing him. The stars have aligned. When I hear the Twins are trying to save money, but then throw away $35M paying for Correa and now another $3M on Rocco, it makes me realize how they got so far in debt with such wasteful spending. I do not agree that the Polhads are guilty of not spending money. They did on Correa and Buxton. There is your proof, record spending. It just wasn't the best spending. I am glad the Twins have moved on from Rocco. He made so many bad decisions, namely, blindly following the data while not having the pulse on his team. While there are many such examples, the one example that really stands out, and represents his faulty mindset was when Kepler was on his 13 game hitting streak, doing well enough against lefties, and Rocco platooned his hottest hitter for Margo, who was batting .180ish. What in the world. I don't think Rocco's firing is a bad thing at all for him. I think it has the potential to be a blessing in disguise. Rocco needs mentorship from an old school manager. He needs it desperately. If he can learn and evolve and not go back into the data only rut, I think he could have a bright future down the road. Every must have the data. But everyone does have the data. It's not an advantage anymore. Go learn how to manage players. I genuinely wish him the best.

The author is pining way too hard to make a name for himself with the Twins organization. This was a fire sale and salary dump first, but with an effort to build up a farm and load the team with young talent. The Twins should have gotten more. They did not. I'm OK with dumping Correa's contract. I'm not OK with paying a year of his salary and not even having him on the team, while pretty much getting little in return. This is the smoking gun that $$$ was the Polhad's #1 Top Priority, not rebuilding for the future. The one note this article got right but then glossed over, was the part about a failed effort and then doubling down on the man who failed, Rocco. He needs to be sent back down to the minors and spend five years under Pat Murphy to learn how to lead with the rest of the leadership toolbag and not just hugging the data blindly. That was the fix. Twins unnecessarily imploded and went into rebuild mode.

You are so far out in left field the Metro took you for a ride down to CHS Field. A good manager gets the most out of his players. The players win games. Not the manager. But you better believe a bad manager can cost wins.

No they wouldn't. That's a dumb argument. The best manager will never get paid like a star player. What winning will get them, is a long career and not being fired for effing up.

100%. I'm not asking for a Rocco pay raise. I'm asking he be fired. He should have been fired after last season. He absolutely without question costs games with his bone head lineup decisions. Go back and count how many times Kepler batted 4th last season. Unreal. That's only 1 small point. Don't even get me started with Roccos unwillingness to steal bases. A hitter is on a 14 game hitting streak, on fire, hasn't slowed down, and Rocco replaced him with a guy batting .180 and this is getting closer to mid season. Damn right Rocco costs games.

Everyone uses analytics. It's a must these days. But everyone uses analytics. Managers still have to use their brains. The players are not robots. That's where having a strategic mind and deeply knowing and understanding your players comes in. Why do we even need Rocco if all he ever does is stick to the data? Rocco is truly a nice guy. But he has nada of a strategic baseball mind. His decisions the last 10 games of last year showed me he lacks the right stuff. The only way he ever wins a World Series is if a team gives him the best players at every position. Even something simple as the lineup, Rocco costs the Twins 10-15 games each year with this alone. Was he not paying attention in spring training? Carlos is keeping a nagging injury a secret. Hello. Know your guys. Geesh. The best managers have to know the analytics, but then need to know when to adjust. That skill is what makes the mediocre average guys into great ones.

The best move is to trade Rocco. Rocco should have used Jax as long middle relief and got 2 innings per outing if not 3. Put him on a 3-4 day rotation. That is how you get the most put of Jax. Will someone PLEASE help Duran throw a good change up?

Sadly, I see Kepler beginning the journeyman part of his career. Unless a team has been paying close attention to what he's been doing the last 3 years, how he has evolved as a hitter, and how he just recently has been trying to mix that new found hitting with his old power, he's going to be platooned as you noted. If he gets stuck in that role, all this progress will get lost. I really hope the right team that will know how to use him, will take him. He has late career resurgence written all over him.

The biggest improvement the Twins could make without spending more money is to fire Rocco and bring in a manager that can balance analytics with knowing how to get the best out of his players. Rocco didn't even try to win and was too stuck in his ways. Granted the odds were slim by the Baltimore series, but that series showed us what we had in him as a manager - zero inspiration to win. Long before the September slide and watching him closely over the last few years, his lineups often made no sense. None! As one example, the first half of the 2024 and last half of the 2023 season, Rocco insisted on batting Kepler in the #4 spot many times. Kepler had evolved into a hitter that spread the ball around in order to beat the shift. It came at the expense of his power. Furthermore, Kepler was not hitting for power in clutch situations. It was like Rocco was stuck on analytics from 5 years ago and had no idea what his player was doing now. Rocco couldn't find a way to adapt to the larger bases and take advantage of stolen bases. He has no idea how to play small ball, or unable to see the value in it because he's so stuck on pure analytics as if no one else uses it. When Kepler changed his batting stance to be wider and lower, his average and power began to rise. It was what he needed to dig out those low sliders and breaking balls, his weakness, and it was the right adjustment. So what happened? Kepler went back to his stiff upright stance. Yeah, Kepler is gone. So what. Guess what? Waller is the same build and has the same issue. If the new batting coach is any good, you will see Wallner's stance change. All I ever hear is how talented the Twins are, especially the young guys. They come to the big leagues and fizzle out. The move that needs to be made is to pull up the big boy pants, go back on the wrong statement made earlier, and bring in the right manager for this team.

For me, Kepler has even more value in life as he did in baseball. My daughter started following baseball when she was 17 several years ago. She knew nothing about the game. Since she was born in Germany, she chose Max as her favorite player. That season, the Twins traded away many key pieces after the All Star break and the year was lost. We started going to Twins games at this time. It didn't matter that they were bad. It was time with my daughter. The two of us have been attending Twins games regularly ever since. Max is the foundation with which we have rebuilt our father/daughter relationship. The last game of that year, in Kansas City, Max gave my daughter her first baseball from an MLB player. The Kansas City fans helped us get that ball from him and it was such a magical moment. After the game, Max returned to us and gave my daughter his red Nike sunglasses. It was a thrilling! As the next few years progressed, we became regulars at Target Field. Even as my daughter's fandom grew to include other favorite players, Max has always been her baseball anchor. Right field is baseball home to her. The thought of that space without Max Kepler is real void in her life. As a father, my love for Max may not be the same reason as just about every female Twins fan, but I've come to follow him and get to know his game, a rekindling of my love for the tiny nuances of baseball. I will miss him, too. Good luck, Max, and thanks for the memories. We will always be your fans no matter where you end up. One day, I hope to take my daughter back to Germany so she can visit her birth place, and how thrilling if Max could be our guide for a day! P.S. When you opened up your stance and lowered your strike zone, that's when you found your power last year. You've worked hard to spread the ball around in order to beat the shift and it's paid off. Last half of last year and first part of this season, you've put it all together. Lay off those low sliders. I genuinely believe you will have a late career resurgence. I wish like crazy the Twins would keep you for baseball reasons. But I believe a good coaching staff with a good eye will benefit you greatly.

I was fine with Oekert getting the nod as he had been doing well the last handful of outings. Obviously he didn't do well, but that's the lack of depth in the entire pitching staff, especially the bullpen. My issue is with Rocco. Let's start with the previous inning when the Twins scored 2 runs to break the tie. For a team that isn't known for speed and stealing bases, it boggles my mind how often the coaches send runners a base too far. I haven't looked at the stats, but I see it way too often. It's just fundamental stuff. Jeffers tries for 3rd and is tossed out. Why? One of the better hitters on the team is up next and it would have been 1 out with runners on 1st and 2nd. Instead, it's 2 outs with a runner in scoring position at 2nd. Castro is at bat. With 2 outs, he bunts. What? Out 3. It's like Rocco got his 2 runs and then totally gave up. What in the world? I was already mad at that point and thought to myself with our bullpen you need all the runs you can get. Rocco is the manager and he needs to either make better decisions or reign in undisciplined players and coaches. My other beef with Rocco is his blind reliance on analytics. Why do we need him if all he does is go by the data? Analytics is a very powerful tool but you still need to interpret the data, know your players and understand the situation you're in. The other team has analytics, too, remember. There is still an element of strategy and tactics. I believe the rule is, a relief pitcher has to face 3 batters. With that said, Rocco just doesn't know when to pull guys. Sometimes when a win is there, you just got to go get it because you have no idea how tomorrow is going to be. Deal with it then, but get the win in front of you. Not only this game, but a few nights ago. A few nights ago. Twins blew another game. Single. Double. Double. 4 run lead cut to 4. You need this win after a Cleveland loss. 3 batters faced. Alcala is normally good, but he's been a bit shaky lately. He clearly was not on. Pull him. Nope. Home run. Game tied. Pull him. Nope. Home run. Game lost. Earlier this year, Kepler was on a tear. You know who killed his momentum? Rocco. Here is your best hitter on a career 14 game hitting streak and staying laser focused. Rocco benches him in favor of Manny, who was not hitting well at the time. Analytics gone wild. Know your players. Know your enemy. Speaking of Kepler, last year and much of this year, Rocco had him batting 4th. Kepler has spent last two years working on spreading the ball and beating the shift. He's done it. Kepler has worked on his hitting. He's improved. But all this has come at the expense of power. Kepler has not had a power stroke in years. Why are you batting him 4th over and over? Kepler has not shown clutch ability. He needed to be lead off last year and a #2 or a #5 or #6 this year. It took forever for Rocco to figure it out. To me, Rocco just doesn't have a good strategic mind. There is analytics, a powerful tool to help you make decisions, and analitics. A lazy approach that no longer works on it's own since everyone uses it.

The best trade the Twins could make is to ask Jorge Lopez which coach helped him and Cano, and then doubling or even tripling that man's salary. Even if only Lopez benefits, it would be huge and cheap. If others improve, then it would be a ridiculous steal. If that same coach could help Duran master a nasty 88mph changeup, that would be a hall of fame trade.

Pagan has been doing very well lately. He gets strikeouts, which is important for a reliever. Think last year. Cano was blowing 6 run leads and had an ERA above 11 before "settling down" to a 9 ERA. He had tools, but was so ineffective. Now he is an all star. The best possible trade Twins could make is getting whoever is Baltimore's pitching coach for relief pitchers! Kepler is always slow coming back from injury. But he has cleared past that phase and in the month of July, batting just shy of .300 with 3 HRs. Last year, Kepler's batting stance was straight up with feet nearly together. Opposing pitchers were attacking him with low sliders and he'd whiff on them a lot. His contact was mostly grounders. This year, Kepler has opened up his stance, which allows his bat to get low pitches a hair faster and it's been his biggest asset. After working on spreading the ball to beat the shift last year, that work has made him a more complete hitter and you are seeing the results of that now that he is healthy. Looking at what else is out there, it might be best to keep him if he can be signed for the same or less after his contract is up. Gallo should be traded or let go. Wallner could get more in return than Kepler, though I'd like to see him stay. Same with Larnach. However, if other teams offer a good trade for Max, then I believe the Twins would do a trade.

I absolutely think Buxton at DH is hurting the team. He is batting under .200 and striking out far too much. Twins need an upgrade at DH Buxton needs to play LF, a shade closer to the 3rd base line and warning track. His speed can handle the open field. His body can't handle the walls. This will limit him from getting a full head of steam towards danger zones. I think he also needs it for his mental game. He is one of the best OFs in the game and even if he still hits sub-.200, at least Twins get a little more value out of him. He is too good to waste like this. As for Buxton's hitting slump this year, the solution is to refocus him to dial in on walks. Even if he strikes out looking, he's already striking out. Opposing pitchers know this and aren't giving him the pitches he likes. So why not get walks? His speed can turn a walk into a double. He would also help team by reducing how long a starter lasts. Once other teams see this and adjust after a month or so, Buxton can start swinging as he gets better pitches, and it would happen at a crucial point in the season. We all want to see Byron succeed again.